Fall Of Man
by Entropic Horizon
Summary: AU. Unexpected interference in the battle between the Sage of 6 Paths and the Jūbi results in the sealing of three unknown adversaries whose powers worry even the Sage himself. Thousands of years pass and the seal broke down to the point where they have escaped their prison. What fate will befall the ninja world now that they have free reign? Strong(er)!Naruto, OC Villains
1. Prologue

**Fall Of Man**

_Prologue_

He tightened the grip on his shakujō. Despite all of his attempts to prove otherwise, the inescapable conclusion struck him deeply.

The Jūbi can not be killed.

The Sage and the Jūbi had been battling for **days **yet this monster was still wreaking havoc upon the land he called home and it didn't look like it was tiring at all.

He'd have to seal it away if the world was to have any chance at peace.

The beast had been rampaging throughout the land for as long as Hagoromo could remember; the only peace that occurred nowadays was when the monster would go into seemingly random catatonic states for months on end before resuming its wanton destruction.

No one knew why this occurred but his mother suspected it might be a form of grieving for its stolen fruit. Whether or not the thing was even capable of doing so was a hot point of debate between the two.

He dodged a swing from one of its tails.

Hagoromo was reaching for his sealing supplies when he felt three **powerful **chakra signatures appear in the night sky. He looked up, still mindful of his gargantuan enemy, and saw three individuals falling towards the battlefield.

Two crashes came seconds later kicking up plenty of dust while the third individual opened two pairs of wings and gracefully brought himself out of his dive.

The two on the ground stood up and all three locked eyes with him. From the angle at which they stood, they were mere silhouettes against the moon's bright light.

'_What is the meaning of this?_' He found himself questioning as the sight that greeted him sent a subtle chill up his spine.

They all had the Jūbi's eyes. The four concentric rings and nine tomoe were unmistakable. The only difference being that theirs were white instead of the crimson of the beast.

The waves of fury he felt emanating from them confirmed who they were fighting for in this battle.

"Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push)!" He launched a blast of repulsive force was launched at the trio but before any of them could move, several of the Jūbi's tails formed a wall that took the entire force of the attack.

The monster let out a low rumble of a roar in apparent concern flattening the woods in front of it with the power of its voice alone in spite of the relatively low volume. The three individuals, not heeding their defender, seemingly vanished in bursts of speed.

'_Did it just...talk?_' He thought as the roar sounded like it said 'No'. His thoughts, and shock as well come to think of it, were put on hold when he felt the trio's chakra signatures almost upon him.

He ducked down avoiding a kick to his head, blocked a surprisingly strong punch with his hand augmented by his Asura Path, and avoiding being cut in half by a claymore by blocking the blade with his shakujō.

A full body Shinra Tensei blew them away with relative ease but the Jūbi took the opportunity to take a shot at him with a swipe of its hand; he barely dodged it in time. _'These unknowns and their interference will turn the tides in favor of the Jūbi if I don't do something quick.' _He thought as he prepared for an offensive against the new enemies.

The memory of the Jūbi's cry and defense of these individuals brought itself to the forefront of his mind.

The Jūbi cares for the trio or needs them in some capacity. That much was obvious. If his hunch was correct, the Jūbi wouldn't risk attacking him if they were too close to him.

A plan formed in his head that made him scowl but he schooled himself. Getting rid of this violent creature was a larger concern than this temporary breach of his morals.

The trio came in for another attack.

* * *

He let out a long breath as the last of the Jūbi's chakra was drawn into him. The battle lasted another half hour before his plan succeeded.

He looked down at the three he dropped on the ground mere moments ago. Capturing them and using them as hostages against the Jūbi was much easier said than done but he managed.

An exchange of their lives for the Jūbi's sealing was done. Whoever they were, the beast genuinely cared for them.

Hagoromo sat down on a nearby boulder. Now that the battle was over and the adrenaline was no longer in his system, he found that he was exhausted beyond words.

Before the Sage can rest however, those three must be taken care of. While he was able to overwhelm them in time, their power was still frightening. If they escaped, who knows what kind of body count they can build up before he got to them?

Hagoromo got up and began preparations for another sealing.

**'What...'**

He froze at the voice. Who was that?

**'...are you doing?' **The Sage blinked. it was coming from his mind. That was unexpected. "Jūbi?" He asked aloud.

**'I ask you again, _Sage.._.' **His title was spoken in a derisive tone by his prisoner.** 'What are you planning for my children?!' **It spoke (well, yelled is the better term) in a surprisingly clear voice but gender was impossible to verify. It seems he wasn't mistaken about what he had heard earlier.

Wait, _children_?

"I wasn't aware that you could procreate." Hagoromo replied as he began drawing a large seal that was about five feet in diameter.

**'You said they would live if I let you seal me! What is the meaning of this?!' **The Jūbi's anger was almost palpable at this point but it had an edge of...panic? Yes, panic. He couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction that came with that revelation.

It finally had a taste of what his people experienced whenever it rampaged.

"I did say that and they will live. I gave you my word and I don't go back on my word." He finished up the seal and made a sign with his hand.

"I never said anything about letting them go free."

* * *

_**3 Years Ago in the Land of Iron**_

A particularly cold blast of wind made Zetsu shiver uncontrollably. He was _not_ made to withstand this kind of climate for extended periods of time and it was made worse by the unusually cloudy day this specific area of the land was having.

"**I can't believe that he sent us to this frozen wasteland!" **Complained the dark half of the plant being, Zetsu. **"And for what? Another one of the fairy tales about the Sage!**"

"Don't let Leader hear you talking like that." Warned the white half with a slightly nervous edge to his voice. An angry Pain was an incredibly terrifying one.

Zetsu focused his eyes to an unassuming spot in the snow a few yards from him.** "There. I feel something giving off a large amount of chakra.**"

"You think this is it?"

"**Hell no." **Black Zetsu answered in frustration. This assignment was pissing him off. They'd been searching for some seal for the past three days having nothing but vague directions to point them to a general area. Honestly, they were good at tracking but they needed something more than that!

**"Could be a dying samurai trying to get some help for all we know.**" He grumbled.

The answer to their question came in the form of a sudden influx of chakra that blew away all the snow in a five yard radius. What was left was permafrost with an awe-inspiringly complex seal that glowed several times brighter than the snow around it.

"That was pretty convenient."

"**It must have reacted to our presence...the unusual fluctuations of the chakra its giving off suggests that its breaking down."**

"You think us being here aggravated it or something?"

**"Seals are a terribly fickle art. It could be preparing to wipe us out as a security measure for all I know."**

Unexpectedly, an immensely powerful burst of chakra erupted from the seal blowing back Zetsu into a nearby mound of snow. Zetsu recovered quickly and dug himself out in time to see a pillar of multi-colored light pierce the sky accompanied by gale force winds.

His attention was brought back to the seal when he noticed something...no..._someone_...climb out of the seal. A dozen chakra signatures suddenly entered Zetsu's sensory range. He sunk into the snow with his Kagerō (Mayfly) technique as 12 samurai made it onto the scene.

All of them were intensely focused on the silhouette that was in the light of the pillar.

"What is this?!" One of them yelled over the sound of the wind.

"That's what we're here to find out!" Another responded.

"There's someone in the pillar!" The dozen samurai pulled out their swords in preparation of any hostility.

The figure stood up and lifted its head with its eyes closed, apparently enjoying the feel of the cold air for a few moments before it forcibly spread its wings and knocked down the samurai with a violent gust of wind.

_'It seems this is more than just one of the Sage's fairy tales.'_ The white Zetsu thought smugly. Two more figures climbed out of the seal before the pillar of light dissipated. One, a woman by the looks of it, looked at the samurais in disgust and stomped on the ground.

The action was followed by spears of earth that pierced the chests and heads of the dozen samurai which instantly killed all but three samurai who would die from their injuries in a minute or two by the looks of it.

They all disappeared in a burst of speed a moment later.

Several moments of silence pass.

"Were we supposed to follow them?"

* * *

_**An Akatsuki hideout**_

_**Several hours later**_

"What do you mean 'they vanished'?" Inquired Pain, the Rinnegan-bearing leader of Akastuki. It was a simple enough question but the underlying threat beneath made Zetsu shiver.

"They were able to completely hide their chakra in the blink of an eye and moved too fast for me to track by any means." Zetsu replied immediately in a voice that showed more of his nervousness than intended.

Pain narrowed his eyes at the response but decided to let the issue go. He couldn't expect the plant man to be capable of tracking them if what the fragment of the Sage's second tablet was anything to go by.

The legends of the Sage only detailed the creation of one tablet which was supposedly hidden underneath a shrine in Konoha. In truth, there were two but the second was mostly destroyed centuries ago. As to how and why, no one knew.

What remained told of several adversaries that appeared in the fight between the Sage and the Jūbi and what capabilities they had. In spite of them being overwhelmed by the Sage, their power was still great enough that the Sage sealed them away as well according to the account.

It also happened to give a partial location of the seal in which they were trapped.

"...we will need to look for them in the near future. They will be a great boon to the organization if they can be recruited." Pain contemplated in a hushed voice.

"What about the Bijū?" Zetsu spoke with a little more confidence when he saw that he wasn't going to be punished.

"All will go as planned however we'll cut down on missions and move some of our focus to finding those three. With them, our chances of finding and capturing the Bijū successfully will be greatly increased."

Zetsu nodded in understanding. The thought of pursuing the aforementioned trio gave him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Leader-sama, if you don't mind me asking...who are they?"

"I do mind you asking. You are dismissed." Was Pain's curt response before his projection faded from sight.

* * *

_**In Konoha as the seal unraveled**_

Naruto had been tossing and turning in his bed for the last hour with no signs of respite coming soon. 'Why does my stomach hurt so much?!' He thought as he gave up his fight for sleep and tossed the covers of his bed off of him.

'I probably missed something on me during the mission today.' He went to the bathroom, turned on the light, and lifted his shirt to see if there was a bug bite or something along those lines on his stomach.

What he was not expecting to see was the seal glowing a brilliant red. He let out a cry of panic and fell onto his rear end at the unexpected sight.

'I gotta show Baa-chan! there might be something wrong with the seal!' He stood up but was brought down by another stab of pain to his abdomen. He fought through the pain and managed to get out the front door. He didn't even bother changing out of his sleep wear.

The journey felt so much longer than usual as the pain slowed him down. The thought of the Kyūbi potentially escaping its prison and destroying his beloved village was the main reason he hadn't collapsed from the pain.

He stumbled up the walls of the Hokage's office but the pain from his stomach resulted in him sliding down its surface. "Baa-chan!" He yelled as two ANBU appeared beside him on the wall.

"Naruto-san, what is the meaning of this?" Asked one with a lizard mask. Another stab of pain shot Naruto's concentration and he fell off the wall. The lizard ANBU caught him easily enough and jumped to the ground.

He noticed a dull red glow coming from Naruto's abdomen through his shirt. He lifted the shirt and saw that the seal was responsible for the glow. Thinking the worst, he laid Naruto down on the ground face up.

"Alert the Hokage! Tell her there is something wrong with the seal!" The other ANBU, who wore a salamander mask, responded with a "Hai!" and promptly headed towards the Hokage's office.

A few moments pass by before a haggard and worried Tsunade, accompanied by Salamander and Shizune, jumped from the office down to where Naruto was.

"What happened here?" She asked frantically as she put her glowing green hands on Naruto's abdomen in an attempt to reduce the pain he was in. Her eyes scanned his body rapidly and noted his symptoms with the speed and accuracy expected of a medic nin of her caliber.

"We saw him attempting to reach your office. He appeared to be in great distress and fell off the wall when I began to question him. Apparently the pain was too much and he couldn't concentrate enough to stay on the wall." Replied Lizard.

Tsunade was about to command the ANBU to make preparations for a possible seal breach but all of a sudden, the seal stopped glowing. Everyone in the vicinity was left confused as to what to do and Tsunade's command died in her throat.

After a few moments of silence, Naruto woke up with a groan. He blinked several times to get some grogginess out of his system and his eyes focused on Tsunade. "Heeey...Baa-chan. The pain's gone."

With that, he promptly fell asleep.

Tsunade looked at the ANBU and Shizune with a contemplative look on her face. "None of you are to mention any of this to _anyone _for the time being. Anyone who does will be swiftly dealt with. Am I clear?" The three nodded. "Alright, you two head back to your posts, me and Shizune will take care of this."

With a simultaneous "Hai!" the two ANBU disappeared in a shunshin. Tsunade scooped up Naruto as Shizune moved next to her. "What do you think that was?" Asked Shizune in an apprehensive voice.

Tsunade sighed. She was virtually clueless when it came to the workings and intricacies of the Kyūbi's seal.

"I don't know. I'll have to contact Jiraiya and have him take a look. Until then, we'll monitor him at the hospital."

* * *

_**The Kyūbi's Prison **_

_**Several minutes beforehand**_

Those eyes! He couldn't get away from them! Try as he might to escape, even he, the great demon fox, was powerless to elude them. He has been forcing as much chakra as physically possible into his container's seal ever since they appeared.

It could very well kill the boy and subsequently him but he didn't care. He just _had_ to save himself from those eyes! He'd be back in a few years anyways.

He unleashed another Bijūdama against the bars of his cage. It exploded violently but it was little more than a pretty light show just like the other attempts. He had to admit; the Yondaime Hokage did a fantastic job with the seal.

Everywhere he looked was the eyes of the Jūbi. They had appeared out of nowhere and...they scared him.

There was nothing he, Kurama the strongest of the Bijū, was scared of. Not even the damnable eyes of the Uchiha clan which can control him and his brethren almost effortlessly! Hell, not even death! That was a mere inconvenience to his kind.

But these eyes, they were different from all that threatened him in this world. They didn't promise death; they brought the complete extermination of everything he was. His consciousness, his power, his very soul! There was no coming back should he let them do what they wished.

After a few minutes of torture, the Jūbi's eyes disappeared. Kurama found that he was hyperventilating and calmed his breathing while he waited for the eyes to come back. They didn't.

He stopped trying to brute force the seal with his chakra and reigned it in sparing his container anymore pain. The fox then collapsed onto his side sapped of most of his energy.

_'Something tells me...the days of the Bijū are numbered...'_

The Kyūbi swiftly fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

Techniques

Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push): The Deva Path's ability to manipulate repulsive force at the user's will to push matter or ninja techniques away. Depending on the amount of force the user puts in this technique, it can easily shatter wood, bones, metal, or stone walls. By using this technique as a defensive measure, all attacks directed to the user will be deflected, no matter the size, power or mass. It can also be used to repel flames caught on the user's body. The only downside to this technique is that there is a short period when it is unusable after being used. The minimal time period is about five seconds, but it varies depending on the amount of power put into the attack.

Kagerō (Mayfly): This infiltration technique is characteristic of Zetsu. It allows him to merge his body with the ground and flora and travel at very high speeds.

(The descriptions for these techniques came straight from the Naruto Wiki.)


	2. Chapter 1: Cry Havoc!

**Fall Of Man**

_Chapter 1: Cry Havoc!_

_**Konoha**_

_**The Present**_

Naruto took in a deep breath of his village's air. _'Man, does it feel good to be back.' _Thought the 16 year old as he did a cursory scan of his home from the roof of this random building.

Granted, he had only been gone for a few days but rescuing Gaara from the Akatsuki had left _everyone_ exhausted. That thought left him somber. While he didn't know Chiyo all that well, the old woman had sacrificed her life to save his friend.

Before his mood could really begin to take a dive, his thoughts were interrupted by an ANBU making his, or her, presence known to him. "Naruto-san, the Hokage requires your presence."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement while the ANBU disappeared in a shunshin.

* * *

Tsunade had just finished up another piece of the utter torture that was her paperwork when she heard her window being opened.

"Yo, Baa-chan! You rang?" The blonde practically yelled as he closed the window behind himself. A vein popped out in Tsunade's forehead at Naruto's nickname for her but she reined in her anger.

"Will you stop calling me that, brat? I am the Hokage you know."

Naruto's only response was to give her a foxy grin and put his hands on the back of his head when he stood in front of her desk. She gave him a smirk in return.

"To answer your question, I did. I realized that with the whole debacle with the Akatsuki happening right after you got home, I never asked you or Jiraiya about your training trip." The window opened up once again. "Speak of the devil."

Jiraiya entered with a grin plastered on his face at the sight of Tsunade and Naruto. "Hello there, Tsunade-hime, brat."

"Evening, Jiraiya."

Naruto playfully pouted at being referred to as brat again. "Ero-sennin."

"Stop calling me that."

"Stop calling me brat."

"Not happening."

"Well, it seems we're at an impasse on this topic now, aren't we?"

Jiraiya raised a brow at the boy. "...Where did you learn the definition, and proper use of, the word 'impasse'?"

Naruto just looked indignant at the implied accusation against his intelligence. "Hey, I read! Sometimes..." Jiraiya gave him a skeptical look as he turned his attention back to Tsunade who looked amused by their interaction.

"Anyways, you rang?"

"Why do you guys ask me that?" She asked with an exasperated sigh. "I sent an ANBU. That should be enough to tell you that yes, I rang."

The two shinobi shrugged. She sighed again.

"I asked you two to come here because I want to know how far Naruto has come in his training in the two and a half years you two have been gone." Her voice became more business-like as she went along dampening the jovial mood a bit.

Jiraiya nodded and crossed his arms as he collected his thoughts. Naruto, noticing the shift in the atmosphere, put his arms down by his side.

"Naruto's physical capabilities have improved dramatically though a big part of that was the runt's growth spurt." Naruto gave Jiraiya a quick glare at that.

"His taijutsu is much better as well and the kid has been making great strides with his ninjutsu as well." Naruto beamed at the compliments which caused Tsunade to snort with mirth. Jiraiya smirked at what he was going to say next.

"His genjutsu is shit though and his intelligence isn't much better too."

"Hey!"

"Calm down, Naruto." Said Tsunade before any headaches could be induced. "What do you estimate him to be?" Jiraiya put a hand to his chin contemplatively for a few seconds. "High level Chūnin easy. Maybe low level Jōnin but that'd be tooting my own horn at that point."

Tsunade smiled pleasantly at the news. "Alright Naruto, you can go now. Jiraiya, you stay."

"Wait that's it? Why'd I even come here?" Tsunade shrugged. "Not like you had anything to do today."

"True. Alright! Seeya Baa-chan, Ero-sennin!" With that, Naruto leapt out the still open window.

Jiraiya put on a playful scowl. "Kid needs to grow up a little."

"The same could be said of you sometimes."

"Touché."

A comfortable silence passed between the two for a few moments where Tsunade looked thoughtful. "I'm betting you're curious about his control of the fox's chakra."

She nodded. "I didn't want to ask while he was here. He gets noticeably uncomfortable when that subject is raised." She paused. "So how many tails can he access before he starts losing control?"

"Six."

"Six?!" She practically shouted in surprise.

Jiraiya smirked in an almost proud sort of way. "And he can switch between Version 1 and Version 2 forms. The surprising, and worrying part, of this is that he achieved it with the fox's help." That piqued Tsunade's interest.

"What do you mean?"

Jiraiya crossed his arms and shifted his gaze so he was looking at the entirety of Konoha that lay behind Tsunade. "...He told me that the fox is scared of something."

"Of what or who, it refuses to say. Fox is too proud to admit as to what or who its scared of I believe. In fact, the only reason Naruto knows its scared is because he wouldn't stop annoying the thing about it until it couldn't take it anymore and told him. The kid is good at reading people...er...demons I guess. As a result, it's helping Naruto in achieving perfect control of its chakra."

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course, we're talking about what amounts to an over sized fox and they are known for their cunning which leads me to believe that its either a very well thought ruse to take over Naruto and break the seal or..."

"There really is a new threat out there that is capable of scaring the strongest of the Bijū. Great, another problem to add to our list."

On the inside, Jiraiya agreed with Tsunade's sentiment; On the outside, he just gave a tired groan.

"The only question now is: Who, or what, are we dealing with?"

* * *

_**In a small village near the border of Hi no Kuni**_

Hinata swallowed a lump in her unusually dry throat.

Kiba and Akamaru covered their noses in disgust at the smell that permeated the air.

Shino, stoic as always, merely buzzed at the sight.

The village their delivery mission took them to appeared as if a natural disaster had swept through it. Everything, save a few homes and shops, had been utterly destroyed.

Bodies of all shapes and sizes littered the area with various causes of death ranging from dismemberment to being near cremated by some of the fires that still burned. In the center of it all, with burning embers in the background, stood a lone figure holding up what was most likely the last living person from this village.

She begged him to spare her but he mercilessly crushed the woman's throat and casually tossed her to the side into a conveniently place spike of wood. The sound made them all wince.

In spite of her team's experience when it came to killing and death, this was simply too much for them.

Whether he just noticed them or simply ignored them until now, the man calmly turned his head to Team 8 who prepared themselves for a potential fight. When their eyes met however, Hinata found herself rooted to her spot in raw fear. If their body language was anything to go by, her team mates experienced the same thing she did.

He had an average appearance with shoulder-length hair and a light tan and wore standard black shinobi pants along with black sandals. On the top half of his body he wore nothing but a dark gray flak jacket. All in all, unassuming described him best but the man's alien eyes seemed to swallow her up with their intensity and it left her feeling light-headed.

Were those tomoe she saw?

She was unable to think on it any further as a sound to her right caught her attention and she turned her head to the source.

A white-haired woman, in a crouched position, had seemingly appeared out of thin air on the roof of one of the few buildings left standing. She was plain looking and had a dark complexion similar to Kumo nin. She held herself with an aura of strength that contradicted her thin appearance and looked like a barbarian with the animal pelts she wore.

Her eyes were the same as the mysterious man, concentric rings with tomoe littered around the pupils, but where his inspired fear, hers seem to invoke madness.

Several stray thoughts passed through her mind that were scattered and random and Hinata had an unexpected impulse to stab Kiba in the back but her shinobi training prevented her acting it out.

A growl from Akamaru was the only sound coming from her team at this point.

The woman smiled excitedly as Hinata tore her eyes away from her gaze. She regained her focus instantly. "Don't look into their eyes..." The brunette whispered to her team mates who nodded in acknowledgement.

"Where is Sutalov?" The man's voice was authoritative and strong; reminiscent of a Kage commanding their troops.

The woman put her attention to the man, not considering Team 8 enough of a threat to pay attention to. "He's at the river nearby. Getting a drink I think."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth when a man in a full suit of dark-gray metal armor appeared next to the woman. He had a particularly handsome face that belied his destructive potential and he bore the same eyes as the other two. His hair was obsidian in color which matched perfectly with...were those _wings_ on his back?!.

"I'm here."

Shino scooted closer to Kiba and Hinata as it appeared those three were ignoring them. "I believe it would be prudent to leave. My kikaichū detect _extremely_ high levels of chakra in their coils, easily Kage-level reserves. We're no match for them."

"Leaving so soon?" The three of them jumped back at the sudden appearance of the woman in front of them. None of them detected her moving!

"Look lady!" Started Kiba with his usual 'I'm the Alpha Male here' act. Normally, it would be a genuine feeling on his part but Hinata and Shino could see he was merely acting.

"We're-ugh!" Kiba was interrupted mid-sentence with a swift punch to the gut that had him face down on the ground struggling to breath. Akamaru growled and bit down on her left arm in retaliation only to whimper at the sudden pain in his jaw.

A quick glance showed that her arm had become like the very earth they stood on. She grabbed Akamaru by the scruff of his neck with her free arm but was forced to let him go to avoid a cloud of bugs from Shino.

"Hijutsu: Mushidama (Secret Technique: Insect Sphere)." Muttered Shino as his bugs followed the woman in an impromptu game of cat and mouse. "We're leaving!"

Shino suddenly felt his chest practically explode in pain. A moment later, he found himself on the ground behind in the midst of demolished trees. "Shino!" Yelled Kiba when he saw Shino being punched clean through several trees by the apparent leader of the group.

"I'll take their leader. You two can have your pick." With that, he stalked into the forest where Shino managed to pick himself up despite several broken ribs. A stream of fire from the woman's hands and the bugs chasing her were dealt with.

She looked like she wanted to argue with the man about who got which victim but apparently thought better of it and instead grumbled a complaint. "The mutt and his owner are mine then."

Hinata, in an attempt to help Shino, went in for a Jūken strike to the man's heart but he sidestepped her easily. She was then grabbed by the back of her jacket and tossed away like a rag doll.

She bounced once and slid face first into the ground.

When she stood up, in front of her was the winged one, Sutalov was his name, looking apathetic to the whole situation with his arms crossed. His eyes sent a chill down her spine. Looking into them, she felt like she was being endlessly scrutinized by a vastly superior being which, given the situation, she might have been.

She instinctively went into a Jūken stance. The veins around her eyes bulged as she activated her dojutsu. "Byakugan!" She launched herself forward and unleashed a half dozen strikes in rapid succession to various parts of his body but he was able to block all of her attacks with just his right forearm!

He threw a kick to her sternum which she was able to block with crossed arms but the power behind it was so great that it knocked her onto her back ten feet away regardless. The man inspected his arm with an intrigued look to his face.

"It seems I underestimated your Jūken, Hyūga. I had thought my armor more than a match for it." He pulled his claymore from its sheath with his left hand and pointed it at her. "That won't happen again."

Hinata jumped back to her feet as he shot forward to her, his wings folded against his body to reduce drag. "Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven)!" Hinata spun around and a spinning dome of chakra formed around her about ten feet in diameter.

She just needed a moment's respite and, at the speed her opponent was going, she would get it as there was no way for him to avoid slamming into her defense. Shock was the only thing that registered in her head however when she saw the man's sword pierce the Kaiten!

She increased the power of the technique as much as she could the moment she realized the impossibility but the blade wouldn't stop in its journey towards her face. A sharp pain erupted across her right eye and she was forced to cancel the defense and jumped out of the way before her head was completely skewered.

The moment couldn't have lasted more than a blink of an eye but it was the closest to death she had ever come. She then realized that she couldn't see out of her right eye. Hinata reached up to feel the damage but she recoiled at the touch from the pain.

He had managed to cut her with his blade but to what extent she couldn't tell. A big gray shape flew across her vision and hit a house with a fleshy crash. The integrity of the house was compromised and collapsed as a result. Hinata's eye went wide with horror.

"Thought he would last longer. His mutt will make a nice fur coat though." Said the woman as she stopped next to Sutalov.

"You revel in violence too much for comfort, Aitiveas." Replied Sutalov in a casual tone. He went forward once more and attempted to overwhelm Hinata with a flurry of swipes and stabs which she managed to avoid the majority of due to her natural flexibility and Hyūga training.

One stab managed to outpace her and went through the left side of her body like a hot knife through butter.

She gasped at the pain that erupted from the wound and stood stock still as she looked down at what she believed to be her death. He pulled the sword out swiftly causing her to fall onto her knees holding the wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.

In spite of her agony, she noticed a third presence entered the range of her Byakugan. It was the first man; he appeared displeased. "Sutalov, Aitiveas, We're leaving." He shouted with a palpable irritation. "We've spent too much time here; we're going to be late for the meeting with our contact."

"What about the girl?" Asked Sutalov as he promptly sheathed his sword.

The man stared directly at Hinata whose temperature felt like it dropped several degrees under his gaze. She deactivated her Byakugan to get away from his eyes.

"Let her bleed out; there's no point if they don't suffer."

He shunshined away from the scene and was promptly followed by the other two.

* * *

An indeterminable amount of time passed before Hinata decided to roll herself over onto her back.

Once she was able to gather the willpower necessary, she pushed herself up into a sitting position and activated her Byakugan once more to inspect her injuries. From the looks of things, she lucked out with the stab wound.

Her intestine had been cut open but the stab had been to the left so it missed two major veins and her kidney. What this meant was that she would die of infection later rather than blood loss sooner.

Lucked out probably wasn't the best way to look at it. She dug some medical supplies from the pouch on her leg and did her best to bandage the wound but she had packed lightly seeing as this mission was only C Rank when her team started.

She would have to find a source of water to be able to inspect and take care of the injury to her face.

After a minute or two of struggling, she managed to get herself onto her two feet._ 'I have to...get...help...' _She turned her attention to the collapsed house. Only a hand with a gray sleeve of a jacket were visible. No signs of life.

Her eyes began to water but she closed her eyes tightly and shook away the gathering tears. No time for mourning, she had to find Shino.

It took a few minutes but she managed to find the bug user with her Byakugan. He was still alive but she could tell he didn't have much time left. Regardless, she made her way over to her team mate.

Each step she took towards him was agony but she pushed passed the pain to make it to her team mate as fast as possible. He was sitting against a tree whose trunk showed signs of a heavy impact in its trunk.

Most of his ribs and the bones in his limbs were broken and he had severe internal injuries as far as she could tell but the kikaichū in Shino's body prevented her from discerning the injuries themselves.

She knelt down next to him and he calmly turned his head towards her. "H-how are you...holding up?" She asked unable to find better words to say.

"Better than expected. My bugs managed to shut off my pain receptors and they're trying their best to mitigate the damage." Shino replied in his usual calm, calculating manner.

The next several moments pass in relative silence; the only sounds being that of dying fires and Shino's bugs buzzing.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Hinata, incapable of lying to her friend, merely nodded. "There's a lot of internal bleeding. I think your bugs are the only reason you've stayed alive this long."

Shino merely nodded and turned his head upwards to look at the sky. Even in the face of death, he remained calm and collected.

"How are Kiba and Akamaru doing?"

"Kiba is..." She took a deep breath. _'Don't break down now.'_ She told herself. "He's...d-dead, Shino. I haven't found Akamaru." Once more, Shino nodded. More silence. The sound of buzzing slowly faded away.

"Go, Hinata; save yourself."

Hinata was shocked, and at the same time unsurprised, that he would suggest she abandon him. "But what about you?" She asked futilely. He looked at her.

"You and I both know...my life is forfeit." His voice was heavy and worn out. He was slipping away fast. "Just...make it back alive."

"I...I will."

Seconds later, he fell unconscious.

His heart stopped beating moments afterwards.

She steeled herself and went off towards Konoha; she'll mourn there.

* * *

Techniques

Hijutsu: Mushidama (Secret Technique: Insect Sphere): This technique covers the enemy's entire body with the kikaichū living inside the Aburame clan member's body. The chakra-sensing kikaichū spread over a wide range, and the moment they locate the enemy, the insects, following the user's orders, gather at once. The insects completely surround the target, making a globe. They restrain the enemy and start eating away at their chakra bit by bit. Before long, death will arrive. Even if the target manages to escape, the insects will immediately follow it.

Hakkeshō Kaiten (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven): This technique utilizes the chakra control gained through Gentle Fist training to release a huge amount of chakra from all the chakra points on the user's body. It is also a defensive maneuver to compensate for the Byakugan's blind spot as the released chakra blocks any possible attack on the user. After releasing chakra from every tenketsu in their body, the user then spins rapidly to parry the attack, both creating a rotating shield of chakra around themselves and tossing away any nearby attackers. The user can also actively control the size and power of the sphere to suit the situation.

Jūken (Gentle Fist): A form of hand-to-hand combat used by members of the Hyūga clan. It inflicts internal damage through attacking the body's Chakra Pathway System, subsequently injuring organs which are closely intertwined with the area of the network which has been struck.   


(The descriptions for these techniques came straight from the Naruto Wiki.)

* * *

Author's Note

The scene between Shino and Hinata was a doozy to write.

Anyways, if you enjoyed the read, please leave a review! It helps me iron out any kinks with my writing and it's a great motivator.


	3. Chapter 2: Fallout

**Fall Of Man**

_Chapter 2: Fallout_

_**Hokage's Office**_

_**Present Time**_

Naruto looked around the Hokage's office noting that most of the Konoha 11 were here. The only ones missing were Team 8 and Neji. _'That's weird. Last I checked, none of them are ever late. Eh, must be on missions.' _

"Hey Naruto, do you know why we've been called here?" Naruto was brought out of his musings by the voice of his team mate Sakura. He shrugged in response. "Beats me. I was just wondering what's taking Kiba's team and Neji so long. Figured they must be on missions or something."

Before Sakura could give her own theory on why those four were missing, Tsunade grabbed the entirety of the Konoha 11's attention by clearing her throat.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why you're here."

A respectful silence permeated the room.

"I have some...disturbing news that pertains to you guys." At this, Tsunade's gaze fell on Naruto and Sakura. "I'm sure you all know that Team 8 has been out on a mission for close to a week now." A round of nods answered her. "Well, in truth Hinata returned to us about five days ago."

"Wait, just Hinata?" Asked an ever vigilant Shikamaru. Tsunade slowly nodded in affirmation. The implications of that sobered up everyone in the room. "Kiba and Shino...are they dead?" A devastated Choji asked as his chips fell to the floor. She nodded once more.

"Why did you wait so long to tell us?" Asked a stoic Shikamaru. In spite of his emotionless facade, his eyes burned with a fury at having the death of one of his best friends withheld from him for so long.

Tsunade sighed. If she didn't tell him now, she knew he would find out later regardless of orders. "Small towns and villages are being systematically wiped from the maps and have been for the last three years. The latest one was where they were found." There was a collective shock at this revelation. How on earth has something like this not known to the general public?!

"Is that why missions have been dwindling? Our customers are being slaughtered?!" Asked a wide-eyed Ino as she thought back on the 'recession Konoha's been having.

"That is right. Unfortunately, in order to prevent other villages from finding out that we're being slowly weakened by this, any information pertaining to the investigations were limited to Jonin and above. Any information deemed safe for release to lower ranks was to be done so five days after the fact. Civilians are told false accounts of how their relatives or friends died which is why we haven't seen any widespread panic so far. I'm sorry, Shikamaru."

Naruto took in a shaky breath. "That's...that's wrong, Baa-chan!" His voice, initially quiet, had risen to a moderate yell by the end of his exclamation. "You're lying to these people about their how their loved ones died!"

"Naruto!" A shocked Sakura cried out but the blond ignored her. "I mean, how could you! How would you like it if-" He was cut off mid-sentence by the resounding boom of Tsunade's fist on her desk.

"I don't like it anymore than you do Naruto." The Hokage spoke in an even but gentle voice. "But this is a necessary evil in order to keep this village running smoothly." Naruto wanted to argue the point but a glare from Tsunade quieted him.

"The dates for their funerals have yet to be determined but I'll notify all of you once they're announced. Now, here's something else I feel you all should know. Hinata came back severely injured but we were able to patch her up well enough."

Her expression darkened noticeably. "During her testimony on the attack, she began to experience severe distress and refused to describe whomever attacked her claiming that their eyes would never leave her if she did. The reason you guys haven't seen her around the village is that she's currently in a private psych ward. You guys will know when she'll be allowed visitors."

"Due to how her mental state has been affected, the fact that the village was burnt down, and kenjutsu wounds inflicted on some of the villager's bodies, we have reason to believe that the perpetrator behind this..." She focused on Naruto then.

He felt his stomach drop. _'No, don't tell me...!'_

"...was Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

**_Konoha Hospital_**

**_A Week Later_**

Hiashi felt an unfathomable hollowness within him as he saw his daughter resting peacefully. He desperately wanted to reach out and touch her face but, for the moment, he was only allowed to view her through the thick glass window next to the door of her room.

She had come back to the village about five days ago appearing to the world as nothing more than a ghost with her unusually pale skin, expressionless face, and mechanical movements.

He had been recounted the events of that day hours later when she had already been put in this room...

* * *

**_Konoha Gates_**

**_Five Days Earlier_**

Kotetsu sighed for what might have been the dozenth time in the past ten minutes. Being a gate guard was mind numbing job at its best and soul crushing at its worst with how boring it was.

But he can't help but love the low risk environment and the lack of any real work. Everything has their trade-offs he figured.

"Wanna play a card game or somethin', Izumo?" He asked his fellow perpetual gate guard. "You do realize this slacking off of ours is the reason we'll never leave this gate right?" Replied Izumo in a casual manner.

Kotetsu grinned as he pulled out a deck. "I'll take that as a yes then!" Izumo sighed before he caught movement down the road leading out of the village.

"Better hold off on that, someone's coming."

Kotetsu looked ahead and squinted a bit but he managed to spot a woman on the road ahead. With a thirteenth sigh, this time of disappointment rather than boredom, he reluctantly put up his cards.

Several minutes pass by in relative silence since the woman seemed to move 'at a snail's pace' according to Izumo. When she got close enough, they were able to identify her as the heir to the Hyūga clan herself, Hinata.

That was the first clue that there was something wrong. "Her team isn't with her...she looks weird too." Noted Izumo. "Keep your guard up then." Muttered Kotetsu as she was within a few yards of the gates.

Kotetsu prepped the station for what would hopefully be a routine entry into the village but Hinata had merely walked on through the gates. "Excuse me, Hey! HEY!" Yelled Izumo as Hinata ignored the Chunin guard.

Erring on the side of caution since this was the Hyūga heiress they were talking about, Kotetsu went off to alert some ANBU while Izumo jumped in front of the lavender haired girl with his hands in a Ram seal.

Before he could tell her she would be arrested if she continued walking, Hinata fell to her knees. It was at that moment that several ANBU surrounded the seemingly exhausted woman.

Before they could tell her that she was being apprehended, she fell face forward into the dirt without a sound.

After confirming that she was indeed Hinata Hyūga, the ANBU immediately took her to the hospital where she was treated for a stab wound and an injury to her right eye.

Unfortunately, the damage to her eye had gone without the proper treatment and had gotten infected which rendered it unsalvageable. It was decided it would be better to remove the eye and clean up what was left rather than try and restore the organ.

The scar would never go away.

When she finally woke up from her operation and was asked for a detailed report on what happened on her mission, Hinata recounted the events with a distant, haunted voice right up until her team had encountered a hostile shinobi in the middle of a burnt down village.

When asked to describe who her team encountered, it was at that point that things took a real dive. She adamantly shook her head and refused to continue. When implored for the details, she became disturbed and began muttering about how their eyes refuse to leave her mind.

Her distress became so severe that the interviewer was forced to try and calm her down only to receive a Juken strike to his abdomen. She was restrained right after by some Chunin who were acting as security at the time.

* * *

_**The Present**_

That was only the first of several incidents.

As a result, Tsunade decided that it'd be best to put her under sedation for the time being to let her mind heal.

A subtle glance at Neji revealed that he was feeling the same way he did. While Hiashi had tried to visit whenever his duties as clan head allowed him, Neji had been doing so everyday.

Unfortunately, none of her other friends are able to visit just yet. The elders did not want anyone to see a Hyūga in such a compromised state until they decided she was 'presentable'.

That infuriated him to no end as a father but as a clan head, he had little choice but to keep up the clan's appearances. If that meant isolating his daughter like this then so be it.

Neji's voice suddenly interrupted his train of thought. "When did Tsunade say she would wake her up for an evaluation?" His nephew's voice was almost emotionally dead. Seeing his cousin in this state never failed to wound him deeply.

He tilted his head slightly to have a better view of his nephew. "Tomorrow morning." Hiashi replied in a more gentle tone of voice. Neji nodded in acknowledgement before letting out a deep breath.

"What is Tsunade planning to do about the destroyed village? It's the third in the last six months alone."

"The investigation has yet to reap fruit so for the moment she will keep the event quiet like the others. Whomever Hinata and her team encountered, they covered their tracks well. Our best hope lies in Hinata recovering soon so she can describe their appearances."

* * *

_**A Cave on the outskirts of Otogakure**_

_**Present Time**_

"You're late. I was about to leave."

The average looking man, Mativ was his name, narrowed his eyes dangerously but said nothing. Orochimaru chuckled at the reaction.

Neither of the two that flanked Mativ showed any visible reactions.

Kabuto smirked and pushed up his glasses out of habit. This little ragtag group needed information from his master so, given that he was Orochimaru's personal spy, he was safe for the time being.

Some might call him arrogant but he preferred confident; after all, the Snake Sannin was one of the strongest shinobi in the world and his personal apprentice Sasuke was to the right.

Although looking into any of their eyes made him waver in his confidence a little bit. Just a little..

"So you're our contact?"

"Why of course! It would be quite rude of me to not meet with customers." Replied Orochimaru with his standard grin.

"Your subtlety astounds me." Mativ made no attempt to hide the sarcasm in his words but it had little, if any, effect on the Sannin. In fact, the man merely chuckled once more.

"Ku, ku, ku...I'll admit that this is not a normal thing for me to do but you three have intrigued me. The stories my spies have told me about demons with extraordinary..." He took a pause to gaze almost lustfully at the wings of the armored one (Sutalov, was it? Yes it was Sutalov) behind Mativ. He looked startled at the sudden attention and unconsciously tightened the fold of his wings. The woman snickered.

_'If Sasuke didn't work out, he would definitely be number one on the potential replacements list.' _Thought the snake.

"...abilities razing small villages and towns were quite fascinating. And those eyes...they're exquisite. To have an audience with you was an opportunity I just couldn't miss."

"We didn't come here for idle chatter." Spoke the winged one with a slight edge of irritation. Oh he looked like a fun one.

"You told us you had information on this 'Akatsuki' group and their connection to the Bijū so give it to us." Demanded Mativ as a small layer of killing intent washed over the room.

Both Kabuto and Sasuke seemed ready to cut down the man but a wave of Orochimaru's hand put them at ease. "Tsk. What a temper you have there."

"I have no patience for games."

"Fine, fine. I hope you realize that there's a price for this information." Orochimaru said matter-of-factly as Kabuto came up and handed the Sannin a scroll.

"Name it."

Orochimaru's gaze shifted to the man behind Mativ. "You see, I'm a bit of scientist and experimentation is a..." He thought for a moment of the proper word to describe his obsession. "...hobby of mine."

"So I'll tell you what you need to know for a few feathers from his wings...see if I can get myself a pair." Orochimaru held out a hand. "Do we have a deal?"

If looks could kill, he would be rotting beneath this cave in that instant. Mativ looked ready to try and kill him (not that he could of course) but the man restrained himself. He looked over his shoulder and Sutalov gave him a reluctant nod.

He shook Orochimaru's hand.

"Deal."

* * *

**_An Unknown Location_**

**_Present Time_**

"Has there been any progress on the search for the Sage's prisoners?" Asked Tobi, or in this moment Madara, as his single Sharingan bore into Pain's Rinnegan eyes. His displeased tone told Pain to be weary in his answer.

The Path remained expressionless despite the intensity in Madara's gaze."They have recently burned down another small village near Hi no Kuni's border. Zetsu is working on tracking them down as we speak."

"It has been three years, Nagato." Madara curtly replied. The corpse puppet had the decency to look somewhat nervous. "I've tolerated any lack of progress so far due to the lack of any real impact from their actions but the major villages are taking notice of fellow villages losing entire towns overnight."

His eye narrowed, seemingly scrutinizing the figurehead of the Akatsuki. "The only reason the major villages haven't done anything about it is because they don't want their rivals noticing their own slowly deteriorating economies. I don't need to remind you what kind of monkey wrench this could throw in our plans if they unite against a common threat."

"What do you suggest then?" Pain inquired uneasily.

A low growl emanated from the masked man. "I knew it was a mistake to pursue the fragments of the second tablet. It was an even bigger mistake to let _you_ handle the task of finding their prison." The disdain Pain felt from Madara was palpable.

"At this point, I don't care how much help they'll be to us. Recruit them or, if that fails, eliminate them soon. Otherwise, it will be your head." With that, Madara vanished in the standard swirl of Kamui.

* * *

Techniques

Kamui - A powerful Mangekyō Sharingan dōjutsu that creates a unique and specialized form of space–time ninjutsu. It allows the user to achieve two very distinct, yet closely associated feats — teleportation and intangibility.

(The description for this technique came straight from the Naruto Wiki.)

* * *

Author's Note

I have really mixed feelings with this chapter. While I got all what I wanted to be done with this chapter down, I feel like I did a sub-par job with it. I don't know, let me know what you guys think.

Anyways onto more important news, part of the reason this chapter took so long was because I had a stroke of inspiration and began a new DBZ fanfic! It's called **An Unburdened** **Fury** and it's a 'what if' story where Broly's crown never worked. Please check it out and let me know what you all think about this as well!

P.S. - It's already got five reviews, four faves, and four follows even though it's only the first chapter! Step your game up, Naruto fans! ;-)

That's everything for now I think.

So **fave**, **follow**, and **review** - and I'll see you guys next time.


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